Press & Post

Forno Bistro a pleasingly casual spot in Saratoga Springs

Posted on July 5, 2017

If the promise of Forno Bistro’s lush plants, stone busts and vine-covered fence doesn’t immediately sweep you into an Italian state of mind, the playlist of Eurovision song contest Italian pop tunes soon will. After 13 years in a former firehouse on Broadway, the popular Saratoga Springs eatery is reveling in its recent weeks-long makeover that evidently involved dismantling a small farm and strapping it to Forno’s insides. Like all aspects of the DZ Restaurant brand — from the slick website to a guest-loyalty program — there’s nothing rough-hewn about the redesign. Details are meticulously crafted.

Reclaimed wood from a barn on the company’s DZ Farm in Galway is nailed to walls, the bar clad in old corrugated metal roofing; machinery parts from a windmill and olive press have new life as a ceiling fan and decorative mirror; even the bar pillars wear bark transplants; and it’s all warmly lit with dozens of naked-filament bulbs.